David Spain wrote:
Pat Flannery writes:

That would imply that we could come up with a rocket/capsule combo that could
launch astronauts at a price of under 51 million per head, which is pretty
doubtful, particularly given the far lower labor costs in Russia and the fact
that R&D costs for the US rocket and capsule would have to amortized over the
time scale between entry into service and the end of the ISS in 2020

At a price of $290 USD per share and only 1.12 million shares outstanding
NASA could offer a 20% premium over current share price at $350 per share
($50 above Energia all time share price peak) and BUY Energia for an outlay
of only $392 million!

All kidding aside, the Russian (or Chinese) price is irrelevant once a
US commercial provider becomes available. There are "buy American"
provisions in the law. SpaceX and the others don't have to match
Russia's price. Once Dragon (or any other US commercial vehicle) is
available and meets NASA's requirements, NASA will buy it and stop
buying Soyuz/Progress. Period.